Oscar wild over 2012 games place

Already famous across the world for his performances on the Paralympic track, Oscar Pistorius has earned the chance to shine as a fully-fledged Olympian

Blade runner Oscar Pistorius has defied his critics by qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, as well as the forthcoming World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

At a grand prix meeting in Legnano, Italy, the double amputee sprinter took a massive half a second off his previous personal best over 400m of 45.61 to win the race in 45.07, comfortably within the ‘A’ qualification standard of 45.25.

Pistorius won the race ahead of Jamaican Lanceford Spence, the Commonwealth silver medallist over 200m.

That time would have been good enough for fifth place in the 2008 Beijing Olympics 400m final, and puts him in joint 15th in the top runs in the world this year.

The pressure was certainly on for Pistorius, as it was his last chance to make the ‘A’ standard.

Before the race in Italy, the 24-year-old had only achieved the ‘B’ qualification standard. Rules from governing body the IAAF state that countries are only required to take one athlete with the ‘B’ standard, and with Pistorius only the fourth fastest South African over the distance this year, it looked unlikely he would be selected.

Now, he is guaranteed a place in the South African squad at the 2012 Olympics, but more pressingly, will now also represent his country at the forthcoming World Championships.

Pistorius said: “It was just a dream race. I just have not been able to sleep, I must have had 300 messages congratulating me.

“I’m sure tomorrow when I wake up it’s going to hit me how massive this all is. It’s so humbling to know I have so much support from everyone.

“With 180 metres out, I just decided to set out for the end, and I really ran a very comfortable last 100 metres.”

However, his qualification is likely to once again reignite debate over whether he should be allowed to compete against non-disabled athletes, or whether his carbon fibre blades give him any form of unfair advantage.

Pistorius was only allowed to compete against non-disabled athletes after a lengthy legal battle with the IAAF, who had originally banned him from competition after finding his carbon fibre blades to be “technical devices”, claiming that they gave an unfair advantage on the track.

It was only after the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the decision in 2008 that he was cleared to compete against non-disabled competitors.

Whatever the legal status, there are still dissenting voices, claiming that Pistorius’s continued involvement in non-disabled competition devalues the Paralympics,

Baroness Tanni-Grey Thompson, one of Britain’s greatest ever Paralympians, said: “I just don’t think it is about whether he has an advantage or disadvantage; he’s just too different.

“I can see why he wants to go to the Olympics, for the competition, fame and the money, but I’d like to see him get that at the Paralympics and I think London will be able to deliver that.”

However, Lord Coe, London 2012 chairman, said that the South African would be “welcome” at both the Olympics and the Paralympics in London.

“He’s now eligible to compete in the Olympic Games in the summer and I’m sure he will, and he’s eligible to compete in Daegu in a few weeks time. It will be fascinating,” he said.

He added that legally, any questions about Pistorius’s right to compete had now been answered, and that the athletics community now had to accept him as a competitor and an athlete in his own right.

“We worked through that process of understanding him as a competitor, understanding the nature of melding within our championships the potential inclusion of athletes with a disability,” he said.

“That has now been resolved and I welcome Oscar to London, as I will to Daegu in a few weeks time.”